Queen spotted at Windsor Castle after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s extraordinary statement on ‘hurtful’ Megxit
THE Queen was spotted today at Windsor Castle after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's extraordinary statement on Megxit.
It comes after a royal insider said the Queen would be finding the couple's choice to step down "hurtful".
Her Majesty looked stoic as she was driven out of the royal residence earlier today - she was seen yesterday for the first time since the unexpected statement.
According to the insider, the Queen fears the ongoing discussions about Meghan and Harry's future within The Firm may prove damaging to the monarchy.
The source said: "The Queen has been keen to get this resolved because she sees it is damaging to the monarchy and on a personal level, I think this has been rather hurtful for her.
"She has got to the point where she doesn't want to think about it anymore, she just wants it over and done with."
Last week, the couple published an extraordinary statement on their website where they revealed they would no longer use the branding "Sussex Royal" from March 31, after being banned by Buckingham Palace.
And earlier today a royal expert criticised the statement during a debate on Good Morning Britain.
Prince Charles' biographer Tom Bower said: "That statement was spiteful fury by Meghan. Meghan gets what Meghan wants.
"It was rude to the Queen. What is spiteful is, she married into the royal family not that long ago and she bailed out. But she wants to bail out on her terms."
He also added that Meghan would have "no status outside the royal family".
'DAMAGING TO THE MONARCHY'
In their statement released on Friday, Meghan and Harry stated that neither the Queen nor the government owned the word "royal".
It read: "While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy or Cabinet Office over the use of the word "Royal" overseas, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use "Sussex Royal" or any iteration of the word "Royal" in any territory (either within the UK or otherwise) when the transition occurs Spring 2020."
The next chapter of their lives will begin in Spring 2020, when they will become "financially independent" and stop using the word royal in their future work.
They have been allowed to keep their HRH titles but have been forced to accept that they will not use them publicly as they tout for business around the globe.
The Sussexes have already agreed to repay the £2.4million of taxpayers’ money used to refurbish their Frogmore Cottage home in Windsor and are expected to pay a commercial rent for it of about £30,000 a month.
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It comes after Harry and Meghan axed their 15 UK staff, in their surest sign they will never return to Britain to live.
The couple are living in an £8m mansion on Vancouver Island and will officially stand down as working royals after completing a series of official engagements next month.
They will fly to the UK for their final engagements as senior members of the Royal Family later this month and attend the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on 9 March.
